Folk custom: At the beginning of the wedding, the bride takes off her painted skin

Chapter 175 Awakening from Dream

The dim light of the oil lamp shone on Liang Mi's face, but it turned his face pale.

No, it's just the way his face is.

Mother Li's words still echoed in Li Daoxuan's ears, and he also thought about it.

One night about ten years ago.

A fire suddenly broke out in Liang Dayou's home, which had a thatched roof. By the time the neighbors found out, the fire was already too big to save.

Perhaps because it was late at night, Liang Da's family of three did not escape from the fire.

It's a very bizarre thing. According to common sense, it's just a room. Even if it burns to the bedside, you can still jump out of the window.

But in their family, there was no such thing as running away.

Li Daoxuan remembered that Liang Dayou's son was indeed called... Liang Mi!

"But why do I just remember it now? I couldn't remember it before, and Zhou Yaya and the others also know Liang Mi!"

There were too many thoughts in his mind, but Li Daoxuan couldn't care about them anymore.

He suddenly pulled out the butcher's knife from his waist... and stabbed it out, but the knife was already in front of his eyes. He suddenly realized that the scene in front of him seemed to be in a trance.

Liang Mi retreated back in panic, tripping over the chair, "Brother Daoxuan, what are you doing?! Are you crazy?"

The butcher's knife stabbed him in the air.

Li Daoxuan shook his head and woke up.

He suddenly looked towards the door of Mother Li's room. The door was closed tightly, and there was no sign of the person just now.

Li Daoxuan glanced at Liang Mi, who was lying on the ground with fear in his eyes, and opened the door of Mother Li's room without saying a word.

Inside the house, it was quiet.

Mother Li, who had fallen asleep, stood up in confusion, "What's wrong with you... You don't need to sleep at night!"

"Something's wrong, something's wrong."

Li Daoxuan was holding a butcher's knife, and his head seemed to be filled with something, and it was extremely painful.

His eyes were red, and he held his head and glanced at Mother Li. In the hall behind him, Liang Mi was still crawling out in panic.

Li Daoxuan roared angrily, ran back to the room, closed the door hard, leaned behind the door, slowly slid down, and sat on the ground.

It wasn't until this moment that he felt the sudden pain in his mind subside a little.

The lost rationality finally slowly returned to the body.

He looked at the butcher knife in his hand and smiled bitterly.

"Ghost, who is the ghost!"

"Brother Daoxuan?"

Liang Mi's voice sounded outside the door again, but when he thought of Liang Mi, his pale, dead face would appear in Li Daoxuan's mind.

The feeling of losing my mind came again, and my temples hurt suddenly.

Li Daoxuan held the butcher's knife tightly in his hand and resisted the urge to open the door and stab him.

Liang Mi continued: "Brother Daoxuan, although I don't know what happened to you, but I...but I still leave first. I'll wait for you at the mountain temple."

After saying that, the footsteps faded away, and the impulse in Li Daoxuan's heart gradually calmed down.

He just leaned against the door and sat there all night until dawn.

Mother Li knocked on the door, and he woke up from his daze. He looked at the butcher's knife in his hand, turned away, and rubbed his face again to make himself look more energetic.

A young man of 18 or 19 years old, even if he stays up all night, it will have no impact and he will still be energetic.

"What happened to you last night?" Mother Li said with a trace of worry in her eyes.

"It's okay...Mom, do you know Liang Mi?"

Li Daoxuan calmed down and thought about it carefully last night, and finally discovered that Liang Mi, or to be precise, three members of the Liang family, died in the sudden fire.

"Liang Mi?"

Mother Li repeated, "You mean the kid from Liang Dayou's family? Didn't he die long ago? Why are you asking?"

When Li Daoxuan heard this, he finally smiled bitterly and said, "It's okay. Is breakfast ready? I'll go out for a while."

Li Daoxuan felt that he seemed to know something.

"Okay, I'm just here to ask you to eat."

After a hurried breakfast, Li Daoxuan left without saying anything.

He didn't rush to the mountain temple, but came to Zhou's house first, knocked on the door, and called Zhou Yaya.

The latter seemed to be still awake, wearing unfitting coarse linen clothes and rubbing his groggy eyes, "Brother Li, what's wrong?"

Li Daoxuan said without saying any nonsense, "Liang Mi is back."

"Liang Mi?"

Zhou Yaya, who was still awake, kept repeating the name "Liang Mi".

Suddenly, she raised her head, as if she finally remembered.

"Liang Mi... isn't he already dead?!"

"Then who was playing with us at that time..." Zhou Yaya took a step back, as if she thought of something again, "I remember a few days before my father died, he seemed to be always talking about how it was impossible and impossible. , and, and my mother said so too!”

Zhou Yaya raised her head and said eagerly: "Brother Li, do you know something?!"

"No, I do not know."

Li Daoxuan couldn't believe anyone now. He shook his head and said, "I'm leaving Yaya first. You go back first."

After saying that, he turned around and left without stopping at all.

Behind her, Zhou Yaya twisted her clothes, wanting to follow...but she didn't dare.

But not far away, another person stopped Li Daoxuan.

It's Aunt Wu!

Since Wu Fa's death, Li Daoxuan has not seen her for a long time, only in the first few days. Later, both mother and daughter lived in seclusion and locked the door on weekdays.

"Aunt Wu, what's wrong?"

Li Daoxuan stopped and placed his hand naturally on the butcher's knife behind his waist.

Aunt Wu didn't come near, she stopped far away, and said rather awkwardly: "Dao... Daoxuan, I have been sorting through your master's belongings in the past two days, and I found that he seems to have left something for you."

"Something? What?"

"this."

Aunt Wu took out something wrapped in red cloth from her sleeve. The red cloth had faded slightly and looked dark red.

Li Daoxuan wanted to go over and pick it up, but Aunt Wu just threw it over, then turned around and ran away. This place was not far from Zhou's house, and she didn't dare to stay here for a long time.

The thing was thrown on the ground, and Li Daoxuan stepped forward to pick it up.

The red cloth was wrapped tightly, and it took Li Daoxuan a long time to open it. Inside was a palm-sized... bronze mirror? !

The wear is very serious, and the back can only be vaguely seen. It is engraved with a picture of mandarin ducks playing in the water.

Li Daoxuan turned over, and with just one glance, he was a little frightened, and he subconsciously took a step back.

What he couldn't see was that when he took a step back, his figure disappeared directly on the spot, but then he seemed to be attracted by some suction force, dragging him back forcefully.

He didn't know any of this, he only knew that there was... no himself in the mirror.

The bronze mirror was empty.

Li Dao

It turned out that... the bronze mirror turned into a stone, a broken stone, with blood seeping out of it. He was startled and let go of his hand.

The bronze mirror fell to the ground and fell into pieces.

It was no longer a bronze mirror, but a stone-like mirror that was smashed to pieces.

Why...is this happening?

Li Daoxuan didn't know and couldn't figure it out. He just discovered one thing: something was definitely wrong with the newly returned Liang Mi!

I didn’t know who to call. It turned out that there was a pig butcher master who could be called to help.

But he died inexplicably, and Li Daoxuan had no choice but to go alone, but fortunately, he still had a butcher's knife.

Maybe it was because he often killed pigs, so he was very good at holding the pig-killing knife.

After two cups of tea, Li Daoxuan came from the village to the mountain temple at the end of the village.

Before he even stepped forward, he discovered that there were already a lot of debris piled up at the entrance of the mountain temple.

After a few glances, Li Daoxuan could tell that these were the things inside the mountain temple.

So... Liang Mi is organizing this mountain temple?

Before he could start, a young man in a green shirt came out struggling to hold a collapsed brick, sweating profusely from exhaustion.

Just as he walked to the door, he put down the brick, raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and saw Li Daoxuan.

He waved vigorously, "Brother Daoxuan!"

Seeing his joyful expression, Li Daoxuan, who had just raised his leg, stopped again.

His mood was very complicated. He didn't know how to face Liang Mi, what if he was really a ghost... what if he was not a ghost.

But Liang Mi had already ran over, with the unique vitality of a young man on his face.

"Brother Daoxuan, why are you here so early? I am cleaning up this mountain temple. I will live here from now on." Liang Mi said with a smile.

"What, you're not going out?"

Li Daoxuan was also diverted by his natural words.

"I won't go out anymore. From now on, I'll stay in our village."

"Where's your husband?"

"Dead." Liang Mi said very calmly and didn't take it seriously.

Li Daoxuan's original polite smile also froze on his face, and then slowly disappeared.

"Who are you?" Li Daoxuan asked seriously.

"It's me, Liang Mi."

The young man in green shirt smiled brightly, but Li Daoxuan didn't think so, "The ghost in the village is you, right?"

"Brother Daoxuan, do you really think... there are ghosts in this village?" Liang Mi's smile slowly disappeared from his face.

"Come with me and have a look, and you'll understand."

After Liang Mi finished speaking, he put his hands in front of his lower abdomen and turned around to walk towards the mountain temple. His walking posture was extremely upright, not at all like that slug back then.

Li Daoxuan hesitated for a moment, then followed him with the butcher's knife.

Not far away, the mountain temple is right in front of us, and all the overgrown weeds inside have been pulled out by Liang Mi.

Several depressions that had accumulated water were filled in with newly dug soil.

Even the wooden table where the statue of the god was placed was wiped clean.

"The first one to die was your father, and the one who killed him was Wu Fa. Do you know this?"

Liang Mi, who was obviously still a child, spoke of these things in an extremely normal tone, as if... he saw all of this.

"I know." After a little hesitation, Li Daoxuan still told the truth.

"Do you know why Wu Fa killed your father?" After Liang Mi finished speaking, she seemed to have expected that Li Daoxuan would not know, so she simply answered by herself: "They had a feud when they were young. When Wu Fa was young, he relied on With his strong body, he is the king of children in Huangliang Village. Every boy in your father's generation has been bullied by him."

"Later, your father became so angry that he teamed up with several other children and used a clever trick, and finally succeeded in tying Wu Fa to the old locust tree at the entrance of the village...oh, by the way, the old locust tree that burned him to death."

"Wu Fa was stripped naked and tied to the tree for a long time before he was discovered and rescued. After that, he secretly made up his mind to kill your father."

"Then why does he still want to accept me as his apprentice?"

Li Daoxuan was puzzled.

Liang Mi didn't look back, but answered Li Daoxuan's question, "Do you really think... do you look like your father?"

"Ok?"

When Liang Mi said this, a long-lost thought suddenly came to Li Daoxuan's mind.

But before Li Daoxuan could think about it, Liang Mi continued: "The second person who died was Zhou Yaya's father... He was also killed by Wu Fa."

"He too?"

There was a hint of suspicion in Li Daoxuan's words, but he remembered what Zhou Yaya said. He saw with his own eyes that it was her mother who killed her father!

Liang Mi didn't look back, but she was smiling, "Brother Daoxuan, have you forgotten what happened last night?"

Last night... Li Daoxuan's expression suddenly turned ferocious. Last night, he saw his mother come out to speak, but in fact she didn't.

But the next moment, Li Daoxuan calmed down again.

He wanted to understand something, and then asked: "Then how come his mother died and was also killed by Wu Fa? All these people who died in the village were actually killed by Wu Fa?"

"Correct."

Liang Mi nodded seriously, "Brother Daoxuan is my brother Daoxuan. Even though I didn't say anything, I actually knew everything."

"Wu Fa is sick, and there is a disease here."

Liang Mi turned her back to Li Daoxuan, stretched out her hand and knocked on her forehead.

"So... you have never left the village, right?" Li Daoxuan asked the question in his heart.

Liang Mi, who had already stopped walking, said with a "hehe" smile: "That's what happened. Brother Daoxuan, everything you have done over the years has actually been seen by me."

"who are you?"

Li Daoxuan had already reached out and grasped the handle of the pig-killing knife.

"Do you know why I have been living in the mountain temple?" Liang Mi said, slowly turning back, "Because my home... is here."

Liang Mi turned around completely, and Li Daoxuan finally saw clearly.

At this moment, the human face on Liang Mi's head... turned into mud.

It was the head of the mountain god statue lying on the ground!

Liang Mi is actually the mountain god here.

"you you……"

Li Daoxuan was so frightened that he was speechless.

"I am...the mountain god."

Liang Mi smiled very happily. At first, she just laughed slightly, but then her laughter became louder and louder, and by the end, she was even more crazy.

"puff--"

The next moment, his laughter suddenly stopped.

Because a sharp butcher's knife pierced his chest, his expression seemed a little unbelievable, "You...why did you kill me?"

Li Daoxuan's expression was ferocious, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking. He just twisted the handle of the butcher's knife hard and slowly rotated it, as if he wanted to break Liang Mi's heart directly.

"You're pretending to be a ghost, you're telling lies, I'll kill you, my ears will be clear!" Li Daoxuan was so crazy that he didn't show any fear at all, but was very...excited.

It's like this is where he comes from.

Liang Mi's figure slowly disappeared, and the butcher's knife stabbed into his chest did not draw any blood.

After a brief moment of surprise, he had regained his composure.

"Brother Daoxuan, I have to say that you are beyond my expectations. I might as well tell you that there is indeed a ghost in the village. That ghost wants to kill you."

"Oh?"

Li Daoxuan put away his sword, turned to look at the incomplete statue, and strode over. With a strong kick, he knocked down the square table where the statue was enshrined.

The statue that was already broken was now even more damaged.

Li Daoxuan walked closer, stepped on the chest of the statue with his foot, and said seriously: "I only found one problem."

Liang Mi's voice actually came from the clay statue, "What's the problem?"

"You seem to be unable to deal with me...although I don't know why."

"How did you know?"

Now that the matter is over, Liang Mi doesn't hide it anymore.

"Because if you can deal with me, there is no need to talk so much. Just tell me this and that. Why don't you just take action?"

After Li Daoxuan finished speaking, he exerted force and directly trampled the statue's chest to pieces.

"Now I only want to ask you one thing, who is the ghost?!"

"Hey, Brother Daoxuan, do you think I will tell you? Do you think you can really deal with me?"

Liang Mi seemed determined that Li Daoxuan would not be able to deal with him.

"Oh."

Li Daoxuan trampled the statue to pieces with a few steps, but Liang Mi's voice still echoed in the temple, which made people upset.

So Li Daoxuan left, and when he came back again, he already had an extra fire stick in his hand, as well as an extra handful of dry straw from the barn.

"What? You want to burn down my temple?!"

Liang Mi's voice finally had a hint of panic, "Madman, you are a madman!"

Li Daoxuan did not reply, but answered him with practical actions. He threw the straw at the four corners of the mountain temple and lit it directly with fire.

He had just left this mountain temple, and a raging fire was already burning inside.

Then he turned around and walked towards the south without looking.

Because at the moment he just lit the fire, he had other clearer guesses, but he was not sure yet, so he decided to give it a try.

The fire in the mountain temple behind him had reached the point where it could not be put out. Li Daoxuan also quickened his pace, but at this moment, a familiar voice suddenly came from behind him.

"Brother Li, where are you going?"

Li Daoxuan turned around with the butcher's knife and looked at the familiar figure, "So the ghost in the village is you, right?"

The expression on Zhou Yaya's face gradually changed, from confusion at the beginning to seriousness now, "It's too late to kill Wu Fa..."

Li Daoxuan ignored it. The sun was high in the sky, and he was facing Zhou Yaya, but his steps were retreating crazily.

He is walking on his back, and he is going to... the river!

He wants to see if he exists!

When I looked at the bronze mirror given by Wu Fa earlier, for the first time I didn't see my own figure in it.

But when I looked at it the second time, the bronze mirror turned directly into stone.

The only people in the village who have such means are Liang Mi or the one in front of me...Zhou Yaya.

From this point of view, no matter who among them, they didn't want to look in the mirror. It was only after they wanted to understand this that Li Daoxuan discovered it.

In my mind, it seems that I really have no memory of myself looking in the mirror.

In other words, he didn't even know what he looked like. He only knew from other people's mouth that he was quite handsome.

Seeing Li Daoxuan walking back faster and faster, Zhou Yaya finally raised her head.

"I didn't know I was a guest in my dream."

She shook her head gently, "That's it now... this dream is over for you."

"But you have to know that you can get out of this dream not by your own means!"

After saying that, she raised her white little hand and snapped her fingers. The surrounding space shattered like a mirror, including herself and Li Daoxuan...

……

In the dark room, Li Daoxuan sat up suddenly, sensing everything around him, and his domain instantly expanded.

He breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Fortunately, I finally came out of this damn dream!"

(End of this chapter)